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March, 2024

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Looking to buy a camera

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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
yep... another one of these threads.

BUT. I DO NOT want a DSLR. I wan't a point & shoot. But one that takes damn good photos.

Reasoning is I have 0 intention of being any sort of professional photographer. My mom is one. I grew up with it. I'm over it. I just want really great photos.

So I'm looking higher end, but under $900.

The Ricoh GR looks pretty sweet. Anyone used one of these skiing before?

Im most concerned about how well these cameras will handle the snow. Any recommendations on what I should be looking for there?

Also, if anyone knows of some winter galleries done with various point & shoots, I'd love to see them.. Everything I'm seeing so far involves the standard artwork and railroads photos.
May 23 2013 5:36PM
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Belzebub
Posts: 451 - Karma: 812
Sony rx100(apparently the best point n shoot ever) nikon coolpix A?
And snow wise, Do you plan on dipping your camera in soft and/or slushy wet snow alot? If so buy a rugged point n shoot ala olympus tg-2 or something.
May 23 2013 5:52PM
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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
Yeah, I was looking at the Nikon coolpix A. The GR is getting better/equal reviews, but its not shipping yet. but the Ricoh is about $300 cheaper.

In regards to snow, I mean whitebalance/exposure. my experience has all been with dslr (t3i and 7d) so I'm wondering how well you can adjust the settings on the point + shoot, how well the various cameras work in auto vs manual for taking photos on a sunny winter day. I will not be dipping the camera in slush.

I've only ever had shitty point + shoot cameras so I don't really know how the settings compare to a higher end camera. I want the simpleness and compactness, but i don't want all my winter photos to look like shit.
May 23 2013 6:00PM
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.qzyxya
Posts: 1479 - Karma: -26
Do you want a point and shoot because a dslr is too big, or because you want it to be portable?
May 23 2013 6:04PM
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.qzyxya
Posts: 1479 - Karma: -26
like do you need one to fit in your pocket
May 23 2013 6:05PM
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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
I wan't to be able to slip it into a purse. I travel a shit ton and have enough to carry already. That coupled with the fact that I like to hang out in sketchy places, a point + shoot is a lot more inconspicuous.

I like to look poor without being poor.
May 23 2013 6:08PM
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Belzebub
Posts: 451 - Karma: 812
I think all of those has pretty good and intuitive controls. Thats like one of the major selling points for the high end enthusiast class. Not all of those has built in viewfinders though, and that might be a dealbreaker considering that you are used to dslrs
May 23 2013 6:09PM
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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
yeah... I've noticed this.

It seems the battery life is still pretty damn good though... need to do some research on battery replacement too since that will likely play into my decision quite a bit.

Priorities: White balance for sunny snow days > battery life > price > iso
May 23 2013 6:16PM
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Belzebub
Posts: 451 - Karma: 812
Check out fredmiranda.com, those guys are really knowledgable.
I would definitely buy an extra battery, i think the rx100 is the smallest and cheapest of the flock, and if you pick one of the three cameras above you shouldn worry to much about iso capabilities-> all of them have large sensors, fast lenses and are proved to be good at high iso
May 23 2013 6:28PM
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MatRich
Posts: 4789 - Karma: 1,812
rx100 easyest decision you will make this year. such a great camera.
May 23 2013 7:00PM
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RimJobber
Posts: 3313 - Karma: 10,058
iPhone. /thread.

Jk. I would go with that Nikon point and shoot body with the interchangeable lenses. They're badass and you have a ton of iptions
May 23 2013 11:07PM
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michael_bc
Posts: 1317 - Karma: 418
Sony RX100 is the best compact camera.

Cameras with a fixed wide angle lens (Coolpix A / Ricoh GR) are less than awesome for skiing.

Though for $900 the best possible compact setup might be micro four thirds. For example an Olympus PEN ($250-300) with pancake 20mm f/1.7 ($350) for compactness and a 40-150mm telezoom ($100-200) for skiing.
May 24 2013 3:43AM
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PacificRimJob
Posts: 24704 - Karma: 29,687
I still really like the Fuji X20... but the RX100 wouldn't be a bad choice at all, what with that lens and all...



Still Fuji X100s is the king of POS cams. Period.
May 24 2013 6:54AM
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De-Clan
Posts: 1920 - Karma: 3,696
I was coming to say this, nikon 1 or whatever it's called is fresh, I have iPhone 4 but I hear the 5 is really nice
May 25 2013 12:13PM
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Mag
Posts: 8155 - Karma: 14,809
Canon makes a metal body cam that's just a tiny big bigger than a p&s(might even be a p&s), it's something like a g1x or a x10 or some combination like that I can't remember, my dad had one before he broke it, but it seemed to get a lot of favourable reviews, and when somebody referred to the rx100 on tgr they mentioned this canon cam too, it's a bigger sensor than a p&s iirc
May 25 2013 12:48PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
The RX100 is the best P&S camera around at the moment. It's small, verastile and has a huge (comparetively) sensor.

You can also look into the Fuji X20 which is also a pretty neat camera.
May 25 2013 1:51PM
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Laurent.
Posts: 10054 - Karma: 25,277
With a bit of luck you can find a Fujifilm X100 for that price.

Also besides being good it looks good, no not good fucking gorgeous.

Click for larger image
May 25 2013 2:54PM
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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
Im now waiting to see if memorial day brings any decent sales. I may just go with the fuji x20 cause of price. The x100 reviews arent as positive as i would like and the x100s is too expensive. the sony is still in the game if there is a memorial day sale. Thinking I may go cheaper this round until i can convince myself i wont destroy it in year 1.
May 25 2013 8:40PM
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gravel
Posts: 5479 - Karma: 41,493
don't do this, that's an improper apostrophe.

seriously though just a t2i or something of the sort is very versatile and cheap, i don't know why you're so against getting a DSLR.
May 25 2013 9:15PM
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RimJobber
Posts: 3313 - Karma: 10,058
Hell, the new iPods are nice. Get one of those colored touches, put a life proof on, and boom. Instant heavy duty camera. And you can even put it straight to Instagram or sync it with a computer.
May 25 2013 9:48PM
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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
I was all confused when I saw that my computer doesn't correct "wan't"... after googling, apparently it's correct, it's just old english for want not. Soooo I basically said i don't want a point and shoot. Go me!

Anyway, avoiding dslr cause of size constraints. I'm trying to make my baggage as light as possible and really want something I can throw in a small purse. It woudn't be for ski photography, more street/ landscapes which is why I'm a lot more concerned about image quality than I am about the ability to zoom/have lenses.
May 25 2013 10:05PM
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PacificRimJob
Posts: 24704 - Karma: 29,687
Just get an RX1, and be done with it ;)
May 25 2013 10:14PM
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Laurent.
Posts: 10054 - Karma: 25,277
That's because reviewers are idiots and slammed it down for it's not so fast autofocus which was fixed for a large part with firmware updates but fail to mention that.

The only review that matters is DPreview, and besides the autofocus they pretty much creamed in their pants because of the image quality.
May 26 2013 3:09AM
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zbphoto
Posts: 7789 - Karma: 12,037
The Ricoh looks so sick, can't go wrong with a fuji x seriesor Sony RX either. Really, any of those three will take great photos, get whatever fits your price....
May 26 2013 3:45AM
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babysteeze84
Posts: 720 - Karma: 285
Assuming you haven't already bought a P&S yet, but seeing how outdated this post is it's unlikely - I'm going to put in my thoughts anyway.... Leica makes an amazing P&S - DLUX 6. Is it expensive? Yes. Does it withstand sand dunes, heat, and cold? Yes. I would't drop mine directly in the snow/water/sand, but that being said, it takes beautiful high-quality images of landscapes, people, and pretty much anything you want to do with it. Can you turn it into more of a P&S if you want? Absolutely. Anyway - that's just my 2 cents. Will fit in a purse or coat pocket. I have owned the DLUX 2 and now the DLUX 6, but probably any version would be good. Also, with minimal change in settings you can play with the white balance if you do happen to find yourself on the snow taking photos or in very bright/very low light.

*Other nice thing about this camera - it has a removable lens cover/cap, so sometimes where that can get sand or grit stuck in it and jam in other cameras, it can't in this camera (DLUX versions)
Sep 23 2013 7:23PM
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PacificRimJob
Posts: 24704 - Karma: 29,687
Haha. She got a Sony RX100 like 4 months ago, Laura.
Sep 23 2013 8:04PM
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Laurent.
Posts: 10054 - Karma: 25,277
Unworthy of the Leica name, just a Panasonic Lumix DMC LX7 with some Leica branding and added Leica tax.

It's a good camera, but the the Panasonic version is pretty much identical and half the price.
Sep 24 2013 6:01AM
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PacificRimJob
Posts: 24704 - Karma: 29,687
And the Panasonic still says "Leica" on it.
Sep 24 2013 7:26AM
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